


Star-Crossed Instead

by deplore



Category: Yu-Gi-Oh! VRAINS
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-13
Updated: 2018-03-13
Packaged: 2019-03-30 18:10:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,326
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13957167
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/deplore/pseuds/deplore
Summary: Several variations on soulmates AUs, and all of them are sad.First words:Around the time that Yusaku turns thirteen, his fated words appear on his chest, right over his heart.Red thread:He grasps the red string in the palms of his hands and steps closer – steps closer – and steps closer still. He wraps his hands around your shoulder as if to embrace you, and your body relaxes in expectation.Names:On your right palm is the name of the person who will give you the most happiness in your life. On your left palm is the name of the person who will give you the most pain.Sharing pain:Up until that point, his son had only known the usual residual soul-connected pains that most children do: every now and again, he would complain about feeling scrapes and bruises that weren’t his own, and Kiyoshi was relieved that his son's soulmate was most likely a child around the same age, living a normal life.Seeing color:“You’re Revolver,” Yusaku says, and suddenly both of their worlds cast aside grays to burst into color.





	Star-Crossed Instead

**Author's Note:**

> **Spoilers for Revolver's real name**. Also, "all of these are sad" is not an exaggeration.
> 
> Thanks to Adriana for translating this fic to Russian! You can read the Russian TL [at this link](https://ficbook.net/readfic/6825607).

**people and things not meant for you**

Around the time that Yusaku turns thirteen, his fated words appear on his chest, right over his heart. Each letter is written neatly, in a deep blue color: _Three. Think of three things_.

When most people receive their fated words, they’re too young yet to have met their soulmate – but it’s better that way, because then their words can steer them towards their other half. Childhood friends who might be each others’ soulmates have often have long forgotten what they first said to each other and are left in a state of perpetual ambiguity, never quite certain if their bond was fated or chosen in spite of destiny. But Yusaku remembers those words clearly even though he heard them years ago – he still thinks of them every day.

He stares at the words in the reflection of his mirror, breathing deeply as his head spins; for a few long moments, he’s six again, half-broken and full of nothing but desperation. _Think of three things_ , the voice tells him, echoing so deeply within his mind that he still hears it seven years later.

_One. I have to uncover the reasons for what happened seven years ago._

_Two. I have to find the person who told me those words._

_Three. If I find them, perhaps I can find a reason to move on._

The ache in the back of his head subsides and the pressure around his chest dissipates. Yusaku puts his hand over his chest and digs his fingernails into his own skin, letting the firm pinch of pain reassure him that he’s still grounded to an objective reality.

“Just wait a little longer. I’ll rescue you,” he says to the mirror, and he’s not sure if he’s talking to his yet unknown soulmate or his own reflection.

 

 

 

Ryoken turns thirteen, fourteen, fifteen – the fated words never come. Sometimes he forgets that they’re supposed to appear, so isolated in a bubble that he rarely leaves, but every once in a while he sees the words on Baira’s left wrist when she’s a little distracted and forgets to keep them covered up and he remembers that it’s abnormal for his skin to remain so pale and unmarred. The sun rarely touches him; he supposes he shouldn’t be surprised that the fated words neglect him too.

He thinks it’s probably better this way, though, because any soulmate of his would have a difficult and lonely life. He gets a tattoo on his hand instead, as a perpetual reminder of the legacy of sin he’s inherited: it serves as replacement enough for fate.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**i breathe the air from your lungs**

You dream of a red string, tying you to the person with whom you share a single fate – when one soulmate dies, the other must follow. In front of you is that person, the one who destiny has surrendered you to, but he stares at you so coldly with his green eyes that you feel like his gaze is piercing straight through you, all your pretenses, all your protection. Before him, you must bare everything.

“This is fate,” you say. You are, perhaps, happy. At the very least, your body is informing you that you are excited: your heart races, adrenaline coursing through your veins like a cold injection to shock the system, and your senses sharpen. You want to run but you want to touch him so badly; you’re breathing hard, you feel dread – no, anticipation.

He grasps the red string in the palms of his hands and steps closer – steps closer – and steps closer still. He wraps his hands around your shoulder as if to embrace you, and your body relaxes in expectation, but instead he just wraps the string around your neck and pulls hard, strangling you with that which binds you two together.

You choke as the breath is squeezed out of your lungs. As your vision blurs, you can see that he is choking too, but he doesn’t loosen his grip.

This is the fate you two share.

 

 

 

It’s only a dream. No, it’s only a dream. It isn’t real, it isn’t real –

It’s a nightmare, but Ryoken wakes up in a cold sweat, breathing unevenly. He touches his neck and tilts his head back, trying to make it easier to inhale.

Ryoken believes in that which he can verify with his own five senses and understand with logical thought; he doesn’t believe in premonition. But one thought rattles in his mind and he can’t shake it no matter how much he tries to reason himself out of it: _Our fate will be cruel, won’t it?_

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**what’s in your beautiful name?**

On your right palm is the name of the person who will give you the most happiness in your life. On your left palm is the name of the person who will give you the most pain.

Yusaku has the same name on both of his hands.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**your agony, my undoing**

Kogami Kiyoshi realizes two weeks into the experiment that it can’t possibly be a coincidence that his son has experienced unusual pains ever since the experiment began. Up until that point, Ryoken had only known the usual residual soul-connected pains that most children do: every now and again, he would complain about feeling scrapes and bruises that weren’t his own, and Kiyoshi was relieved that Ryoken’s soulmate was most likely a child around the same age, living a normal life.

Ryoken’s always been an exceptionally good son, obedient and careful to follow the rules to their precise definitions, sometimes skirting them using technicalities, but never overstepping what he has been taught is right and good. It’s because of that nature of his, Kiyoshi’s certain, that Ryoken tries his best to mask the convulsing pains from the electric shocks, crying in places where he thinks he won’t be heard. During meal times, he’s ravenous, eating his entire plate in a matter of seconds and only remembering himself whenever one of the adults asks him if he’d like more, politely demurring before running off to his room. As the person who passed onto Ryoken his values and morals, Kiyoshi knows that Ryoken is trying to hide how much he hurts so as to not cause his father more heartache than the experiment already has: some things, once begun, are not easily ended.

So Ryoken pretends to be fine and Kiyoshi pretends to believe it. He isn’t sure it’s the right thing to do, but he hasn’t known what that is for quite some time.

 

 

* * *

 

 

 

**explosions, and other forms of destruction**

The first time they talk face-to-face, Fujiki Yusaku has just broken into Kogami Ryoken’s house overseeing Stardust Road. The sun has almost set, so that the lighting takes on shades of gray through the open windows and makes it a bit difficult to make out each others’ expressions through the shadows cast upon their faces.

“You’re Revolver,” Yusaku says, and suddenly both of their worlds cast aside grays to burst into color. The setting sun is pockets of lush orange and red as it sinks beneath the horizon, and the sky takes on a serene indigo that looks almost soft to touch. The ocean shimmers in deep cerulean – and Stardust Road is beginning to light up, glowing brighter and brighter the darker the sky becomes. Fujiki Yusaku’s eyes are an intense, bright green and Kogami Ryoken’s are pale blue, almost gemlike.

They both take a step back, as if startled at how the world has changed for them. Kusanagi Shoichi, though only an onlooker, realizes that something is amiss, and begins to say, “You two…”

“I am,” Ryoken cuts in, staring forward and acting like he doesn’t see how beautiful the world has been all along.

There is a pause, and then Yusaku follows suit. “Then you know why we’re here,” he says.

Being soulmates, perhaps it isn’t a surprise that both of them are good at pretending.

**Author's Note:**

> uhhhhhhhh yeah so I'm emo over this ship every day if you couldn't tell. I'll write something happier next, probably. Sometimes I'm tempted to ask for revoyu prompts just to force myself to inject more effort into producing The Content but I'm also lazy, so, we'll see!


End file.
